Seeing is Believing!

    Today is a special day. Sunny, warm, but melancholy as summer draws to a close.  It gets dark earlier each evening, and the loud song of chirping crickets jumps in your ears when you step outside. I make the most of it, appreciating what will soon be gone.

     

    I had a nice day at work today, and as I awaited my ride home, I chatted on the front porch with two of the residents. Suddenly, as I happened to glance at the mini petunias hanging on the porch front, my eyes widened in amazement.

   

   A hummingbird!! A real live, honest to goodness hummingbird. It was hovering around the flowers, just as I've seen a thousand times on TV. In an instant, it was gone. I couldn't even tell what color it was, because we were in the shade.

   

   I was so excited as I told the ladies, and for the rest of the time I was there, probably five minutes, I kept looking and hoping the elusive bird would come back, but it didn't. Still, I was happy. I'm almost 46 years old, and have been waiting basically all my life to see a hummingbird.

   

   I understand hummingbirds are common. My Dad often tells me that when he was a kid, and he spent summers on Cape Cod, the hummers were everywhere. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were giant bees, due to the loud buzz of their flapping wings.

     The hummingbird I saw today was a quiet one, I didn't hear any buzzing. What I saw was like magic, like animation, and before I could believe my eyes, it was gone.

       On any other day, this might just be a nice story for my blog. But today isn't just any day. It's September 3rd. The anniversary of my grandmother's passing in 2008. I realized the anniversary date when I got home, and tears came to my eyes.

     I can't believe it's been six years. The time goes fast, but in my heart, the six years seems more like sixty. I miss my grandmother and hope to be reunited someday.  I would love to think she's nearby, close to me. She'd love it where I work, we even have an orange cat sleeping on the porch.

     After waiting for a sign or hello from Grammy all this time, I don't care if other people think today's hummingbird is a coincidence or just wishful thinking.  For me, it was a moment I will never forget, and I'm very thankful. 

Maybe next year I'll see my first bluebird!

I love you, Grammy.

Here's the front porch where I work. The flowers hanging above are the ones my hummingbird was flying around.

Here's the orange cat. We don't know it's name or where it lives, but it spends a lot of time on our porch.

Here are Grammy's favorite flowers, pansies! We have a few pots of those on the porch, too.

I'll be setting up a nectar feeder on the porch to see if my hummingbird will come back, maybe with some friends. I'd love to get a picture!